Fleur Lombard: Difference between revisions
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|name = Fleur Lombard |
|name = Fleur Lombard |
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|image = Fleur_Lombard_receiving_the_Silver_Axe_Award.jpg |
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|caption = Fleur Lombard receiving the Silver Axe Award |
|caption = Fleur Lombard receiving the Silver Axe Award |
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|birth_date = 1974 |
|birth_date = 1974 |
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Revision as of 08:56, 24 April 2012
Fleur Lombard | |
|---|---|
 Fleur Lombard receiving the Silver Axe Award | |
| Born | 1974 Derbyshire, UK |
| Died | 4 February 1996 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Firefighter |
| Known for | First female firefighter to die on duty in peacetime Britain |
Fleur Lombard QGM (1974 – 4 February 1996[1]) was the first female firefighter to die on duty in peacetime Britain.
Biography
Fleur Lombard was born in Derbyshire, UK. The plaque [2] at the site her ashes were scattered records her parents as Roger and Jane Lombard and that she had a sister Rebecca. She died at the scene of the fire in Staple, Hill, Bristol, UK
Staple Hill supermarket fire
Fleur Lombard was one of only eight women among Avon's 700 firefighters.[3] On graduating in 1994, Lombard received the Silver Axe Award, for most outstanding recruit on her training school.[4] On 4 February 1996, when she was 21 years old, she was fighting a supermarket fire in Staple Hill, near Bristol, when she and her partner, Robert Seaman, were caught in a flashover. She was killed as a direct result of the intense heat and her body was found just a few yards from the exit. Lombard was the first woman to die in peacetime service in Britain.[3][5]
She was posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.[6] Robert Seaman was awarded the George Medal for bravery for returning to the burning building when he realised his partner had not followed him out.[7] Another firefighter, Pat Foley, who also went into the blazing supermarket to help, was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Bravery.[7]
Martin Cody
The fire was deliberately started by security guard Martin Cody,[3] then aged 21, on his first day at work at the supermarket. Cody was said to live in a fantasy world and started the fire to relieve his boredom.[3] He phoned a colleague to say the fire was "a good one", and was seen punching the air with glee before firefighters arrived on the scene. Cody was later jailed for seven and a half years for manslaughter and arson.[3] The sentencing judge of the Royal Courts of Justice stated that he had escaped a life sentence for the manslaughter only because psychiatrists were unable to say he posed a continuing serious risk to the public.[3] Lombard's parents criticised the jail sentence, saying psychiatric treatment would have been more appropriate.[3]
Legacy
Lombard's ashes are interred in the churchyard of St Enodoc's Church, Trebetherick, Cornwall.[4] A trust fund and bursary were set up in her memory.[4]
A memorial plaque stands close to where Lombard died.[8] Her name is on the UK National Firefighters Memorial located near St. Paul's Cathedral, London.[9]
In her memory, Avon Fire and Rescue Service have set up the Fleur Lombard Bursary Fund. [10] This provides travel grants so that a junior UK firefighter may visit the fire service of another country
References
- ^ "UK Deaths on Duty". FireNet. Archived from the original on 2008-04-22. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Tablet of Firefighter Fleur Lombard QGM at St Enodoc".
- ^ a b c d e f g Shaw, Terence (1997-09-02). "Arsonist gets seven years for killing firewoman". Telegraph Group Limited. Retrieved 2008-07-01. [dead link]
- ^ a b c "The Fleur Lombard Bursary". Avon Fire and Rescue Service. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Dying in the line of duty". BBC News. 2002-09-31. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "In Memoriam, Fleur Lombard". International Association of Women in Fire & Emergency Services. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ a b "Posthumous award for female firefighter". BBC News. 1998-04-03. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "List of Planning Applications and Other Proposals" (PDF). South Gloucestershire Council. 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "In Memoriam". Firefighters Memorial Charitable Trust. Archived from the original on 2008-04-18. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ^ "Fleur Lombard Bursary Fund". Avon_Fire_and_Rescue_Service.